title: Probable medications overuse headaches: validation of a brief easy-to-use screening tool in a headache centre.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To validate a rapid questionnaire as a screening tool, because application of the diagnostic revised criteria of the ICHD-II for medication overuse headache (MOH) requires experience for the physician and is time-consuming.
  
  
  METHODS
  ICHD-II criteria for probable MOH (pMOH) were transformed in questions formulated in such a way that they could be self-administered, easily understood, and quickly filled out. We compared this questionnaire to the gold standard: the diagnosis made by headache specialists, based on the the ICHD-II criteria. Patients who were consulting for pMOH or migraine for the first time were consecutively included. As validity indicators, we calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the items.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-nine patients were screened, 77 included, 2 female patients excluded. Forty-two patients have been considered as suffering from pMOH, 35 patients suffered from migraine without medication overuse. The association of the question "do you take a treatment for attacks more than 10 days per month" and the question "is this intake on a regular basis?" had a sensitivity of 95.2% and a specificity of 80%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This screening tool can detect pMOH with a sensitivity that could be of interest to screen patients in clinical practice and to pre-include patients for research as epidemiological studies.
authors.affiliation: Centre Douleur Chronique, Hôpital Pellegrin, Place Amélie Raba Léon, 33 076 Bordeaux, Cedex, France. virginie.dousset@chu-bordeaux.fr.
authors.forename: Virginie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dousset
authors.forename: Martial
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maud
authors.forename: Mélanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Legoff
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Radat
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brochet
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Dartigues
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kurth
mesh_terms: D000700:Analgesics / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics